AFRICA 


VOLUME  3 


NUMBER  8 


TICAX-  X  X  ""  ' 

BULLETIN 

of  the 

Training  School  for  Missionaries 

393  Third  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
OCTOBER  1920 


The  land  dark  as  midnight 
The  land  of  the  shadow  o 
Without  amj  orde/., 

And  where  the  light  is  as 
midnight’  Job  IQ.'ZZ 


AFRICA  APPEALS 


There  are  tribes  to-day  still  in  the  darkness  of  savagery  ( shame 
to  the  Christian  Church  be  it  said),  who  have  only  heard  the  Gospel 
once  and  that  from  the  lips  of  Livingstone  50  to  60  years  ago.  He 
might  still  cry  as  he  wrote  in  one  of  his  letters,  “Oh!  when  shall  the 
time  come  in  which  every  man  that  feels  the  heat  of  the  sun  shall  be 
freed  from  all  other  fetters  but  bonds  of  loi?e  to  our  Savior .” 

Next  to  Palestine,  Africa  is  the  land  most  closely  connected  with 
the  Hebrew  race.  It  was  the  valley  of  the  Nile  that  cradled  that 
race  in  its  infancy  and  in  a  peculiar  way  befriended  Jacob,  Joseph, 
Moses  and  Jeremiah. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  Africa  sheltered  our  Lord  in  His 
infancy.  That  it  was  an  African  who  carried  His  cross  when  He 
fell  beneath  its  weight  on  the  way  to  Calvary. 

Two  Africans,  Simeon  and  Lucius,  were  prominent  amongst  the 
prophets  and  teachers  in  the  first  missionary  church.  In  the  church 
at  Antioch,  Appollos,  mighty  in  the  Scriptures  and  well  recommended 
by  the  apostle  Paul,  was  a  man  of  Alexandria.  Dwellers  in  Egypt 
and  parts  about  Cyrene  were  present  at  Pentecost.  No  doubt  many 
of  them  carried  back  to  Africa  the  news  of  God  visiting  His  people 
and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Within  200  }rears  after  Pentecost,  900  churches  flourished  in  North 
Africa.  For  some  centuries  Christianity  spread  over  North  Africa 
going  down  the  Nile  into  the  Soudan. 

How  little  you  knew  of  the  African  puzzle  is  seen  when  it  leaks 
out  that  the  very  name  {“Africa”)  is  utterly  unknown  to  the  negro. 
Africa!  He  never  heard  such  a  hideous  rvord.  It  is  a  mere  tag,  a 
mere  ticket  stuck  on  the  back  of  this  poor  Continent,  by  outsiders.  A 
straw  indicates  the  current,  and  if  we  know  not  the  name,  then  we 
know  less  of  the  nature  of  black  place  and  black  person,  of  black  man 
and  blacker  manners.  A  perfect  parable  this  of  Africa,  the  land,  and 

the  African,  the  man.  -"Thinking  Black." 

Africa  is  the  second  largest  continent  on  the  globe,  Asia  alone 
being  greater.  It  is  three  times  larger  than  Europe  and  one  and  one- 
half  times  larger  than  either  North  or  South  America. 

It  has  been  called  the  “dark  continent”  and  we  may  suggest  three 
reasons  for  this.  1st — Africa  until  the  19th  century  was  the  one 
continent  whose  vast  interior  as  far  as  geographical  certainties  were 
concerned  lay  in  impenetrable  darkness.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  real¬ 
ize  that  the  opening  up  of  this  land  lies  just  a  brief  decade  or  so 
away.  Stanley’s  journey  down  the  Nile  only  being  completed  in  1877. 
Livingstone’s  great  work  was  also  about  this  time. 

It  is  the  dark  continent  because  further  its  native  population  con¬ 
sists  almost  entirely  of  dark  skinned  peoples.  It  has  a  population  of 
over  130  millions,  40  millions  of  whom  are  pure  negroes. 

But  the  saddest  reason  for  calling  Africa  the  “dark  continent”  lies 
in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  continent  whose  native  religion  is  with¬ 
out  sacred  writings  of  any  kind,  and  no  definite  knowledge  of  God  and 
the  true  religion.  Religions  are  found  there  but  their  adherents  are 
wandering  in  the  blackness  of  darkness  of  heathendom  such  as  is 
found  nowhere  else  in  the  world. 

As  a  result  of  missionary  activity  there  are  possibly  a  million  and 
a  half  adherents  of  Christianity,  but  as  we  consider  the  large  population 


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of  this  continent  we  deem  it  would  be  true  to  say  that  Africa  is  still 
the  dark  continent  and  practically  untouched  by  the  gospel. 

Africa  can  well  be  called  “the  spoiled  child  of  nature’’  for  through¬ 
out  much  of  the  continent  nature  has  been  lavishly  kind  to  the 
African.  She  feeds  him  without  much  effort — she  clothes  him  with 
tropical  sunshine  and  if  necessity  needed  clothes  she  would  dress  him 
with  leaves  and  bark  which  lie  at  hand  to  provide  this  for  him. 

What  Captain  Rendel  Short  says  of  Central  Africa  is  true  to  a 
large  extent  of  the  whole  of  Africa.  “Central  Africa  at  the  beginning 
of  the  last  quarter  of  the  19th  century  was  very  little  known  in 
spite  of  the  journeys  of  Dr.  Livingstone  and  others.  It  was  divided 
up  into  areas  varying  in  size  from  a  mere  village  with  its  fields  to  a 
great  Empire  as  large  as  Ireland,  under  the  absolute  rule  of  a  chief, 
small  or  large.  The  people  would  be  partly  free,  partly  slaves.  The 
men  fought  and  hunted;  the  women  did  the  hard  work  in  the  village 
and  in  the  fields.  It  is  a  curious  thing  that  nearly  all  the  cultivated 
foodstuff's  had  been  introduced  by  Europeans  such  as  Maize,  sweet 
potatoes,  pineapples,  tomatoes,  oranges  and  lemons,  chilli,  pepper,  etc. 
There  was  considerable  trade  to  and  from  the  Coast  in  guns,  rum, 
powder,  ivory,  slaves  and  cloth.  There  was  no  money,  cloth,  salt  and 
the  above  mentioned  articles  fulfilled  the  purpose.  The  languages 
were  not  reduced  to  writing. 

War  was  the  natural  state  of  the  country.  One  savage  tribe  after 
another  had  risen  against  its  neighbors  and  all  but  exterminated  them. 
The  villages  were  hung  ’round  with  human  skulls  on  poles.  A  man’s 
reputation  in  his  country  depended  on  the  number  of  persons  he  had 
put  to  death.  Another  custom  that  took  a  frightful  toll  of  human 
life  depended  on  the  belief  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  natural 
sickness  and  that  illness  and  death  are  always  somebody’s  fault, 
brought  about  bv  witchcraft.  When  anyone  became  ill  or  died,  the 
fetish  doctor  would  be  called  in  and  he  would  indicate  by  divining 
the  guilty  party.  The  accused  would  then  be  compelled- to  thrust  his 
hands  into  a  pot  of  boiling  water;  if  the  skin  came  off  he  was  con¬ 
demned  to  a  cruel  death;  if  it  did  not,  he  was  adjudged  innocent. 

Polygamy,  immorality  and  drunkenness  were  rife.  Though  there 
was  a  dim  belief  in  a  far-away  God — the  native  who  had  barely  es¬ 
caped  from  the  jaws  of  a  crocodile  would  utter  the  time  honored 
prayer,  “O  Lord  God,  the  crocodiles  nearlv  made  a  meal  of  me,  but 
Thou,  O  Lord  didst  deliver  me” — in  practice,  the  religion  was  a  wor¬ 
ship  of  spirits  and  demons  inhabiting  every  conspicuous  natural 
object.” 

THE  VOICE 

“The  toms -toms  thudded  straight  on  all  night,  and  the  darkness 
shuddered  round  me  as  a  living,  feeling  thing.  I  could  not  go  to 
sleep  so  lay  awake  and  looked ;  and  this  is  what  I  seemed  to  see : 

“That  I  stood  on  a  grassy  sward,  and  at  my  feet  a  precipice  broke 
sheer  down  into  infinite  space.  J  looked,  but  saw  no  bottom,  only 
great  cloud  shapes  black  and  furious,  coiled  and  great  shadoxv-shrouded 
hollows  and  unfathomable  depths.  Back  J  drew,  dizzy  at  the  devth. 
Then  I  saw  forms  of  people  moving  single  file  along  the  grass.  They 
xvere  making  for  the  edge.  There  xvas  a  woman  with  a  baby  in  her 
arms  and  another  child  holding  on  to  her  dress.  She  xvas  on  the 
very  verge.  Then  J  saw  she  was  blind.  She  lifted  her  foot  for  the 
next  step — it  trod  air.  She  xeias  over  and  the  children  with  her. 


3 


OH!  THE  CRY  AS  THEY  WENT  OVER 


” Then  I  saw  more  streams  of  people  flowing  from  all  quarters. 
All  were  blind,  stone  blind ;  all  made  straight  for  the  precipice’s  edge. 
Then  1  wondered  with  a  wonder  that  was  simply  agony  why  no  one 
stopped  them  at  the  edge.  Then  I  saw  that  along  the  edge  there 
were  sentries  at  intervals ;  but  the  intervals  were  far  too  great;  there 
were  wide,  unguarded  gaps  between,  and  through  these  gaps  the  people 
fell  in  blindness,  quite  unwarned;  and  the  green  grass  seemed  blood- 
red  to  me  and  the  great  gulf  yatoned  like  the  mouth  of  hell. 

“ Then  I  saw  like  a  little  picture  of  peace,  a  group  of  people 
under  some  trees,  with  their  backs  turned  towards  the  gulf.  They  were 
making  some  daisy  chains.  Sometimes  when  a  piercing  shriek  cut 
the  quiet  air  and  reached  them  it  disturbed  them  and  they  thought 
it  rather  a  vulgar  sound.  If  one  of  their  number  started  up  and 
wanted  to  go  and  do  something  to  help,  then  all  the  others  would  pull 
that  one  down. 

“ Why  should  YOU  get  so  excited  about  it?  You  must  wait  for  a 
definite  call  to  go!  You  have  not  finished  your  daisy  chain  yet.  ‘ It 
would  be  really  selfish’  they  said,  ‘to  leave  us  to  finish  the  work 
alone 

“Then  came  another  sound  like  the  pain  of  a  million  hearts  wrung 
out  in  one  full  drop,  one  sob,  and  a  horror  of  great  darkness  was  upon 
me,  for  I  knew  ivhat  it  was — the  cry  of  blood. 

“Then  thundered  a  voice,  the  voice  of  the  Lord;  and  He  said,  ‘ What 
hast  thou  done?  The  voice  of  thy  brother’s  blood  crieth  unto  Me 
from  the  ground .’  ” 

— Selected. 

THE  SOUDAN 

The  vast  Soudan,  three  thousand  miles  from  Abbysinia  to  the 
Atlantic  and  containing  a  population  of  possibly  25,000,000  of  people 
untouched  by  European  civilization  and  but  until  recently  containing 
not  a  single  mission  station. 

This  vast  territory  is  throughout  in  almost  utter  darkness.  These 
millions  are  now  being  evangelized  by  Mohammedan  teachers  and 
preachers  and  unless  some  effort  is  made  to  stop  the  onrush  of  Islam 
they  will  all  become  Mohammedans. 

The  menace  which  broods  over  Soudan  is  one  that  threatens  the 
whole  of  Africa  as  a  thunder  cloud  the  sunlight  over  a  summer  land¬ 
scape.  The  Mohammedan  trader  protected  by  European  powers  may 
now  travel  anywhere  in  safety.  His  coming;  brings  to  the  natives, 
undreamed  of  prosperity  of  wealth  by  profitable  exchange.  To  the 
men  comes  beads  and  implements,  to  the  women  cotton  goods  and 
trinkets. 

When  we  remember  that  every  Mohammedan  trader  is  a  missionarv 
and  that  close  on  his  heels  comes  a  Mohammedan  teacher,  we  will 
be  able  to  measure  the  peril  which  threatens  the  Soudan  and  through 
the  Soudan  the  whole  of  Africa. 

To  many  ignorant  of  the  real  character  of  Mohammedanism,  con¬ 
version  from  paganism  to  Islam  may  seem  a  step  forward.  It  is  said 
to  be  a  substitution  of  belief  in  God  for  worship  of  evil  spirits.  It 
is  true  it  is  a  worship  of  a  erod — Allah,  they  call  him,  but  he  is  not 
Jehovah  of  the  Bible,  or  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Moham¬ 
medanism  is  not  merely  non-Christian,  it  is  anti-Christian,  A  Pagan 


4 


accepting  Islam  is  practically  lost  to  Christ,  his  mind  is  poisoned  and 
his  heart  is  closed  to  the  gospel. 

It  has  been  said  that  for  every  Moslem  accepting  Christ  there 
are  at  least  100  Pagans  becoming  Mohammedans. 

This  is  a  situation  we  may  well  notice  and  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  insert  here  a  recent  letter  from  Mr.  Hewstone  who  is  our 
only  representative  in  the  Soudan  and  who  has  only  recently  entered 
one  of  the  provinces  in  that  great  territory.  “Bagana  is  a  riverine 
town  with  a  very  mixed  population,  all  speaking  Hausa,  and  to  a 
large  extent  Moslem.  We  do  not  expect  to  stay  very  long,  but  hope 
to  meet  the  Resident  there  for  he  has  offered  to  come  two  days’ 
journey  to  see  us  as  soon  as  we  arrive.  Ten  miles  inland  is  the  head 
town  of  the  Amara  District  of  Igaras,  30  miles  further  is  Ankpa,  the 
head  town  of  the  Igaras  Province  or  Division.  This  Province  has 
been  a  source  of  trouble  to  the  Government  for  a  long  time  back. 
It  looks  as  though  they  were  going  to  make  a  test  case  of  whether 
or  not  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  the 
Igaras,  Okpotos  and  Moslems.  It  makes  us  feel  our  weakness  and 
insufficiency  but  praise  God,  He  is  strong  and  He  is  sufficient.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Missionarv  Societv  at  Ibi  says,  “Upon  the  success 
of  your  mission  lies  the  fate  of  Missions  in  general  in  the  Western 
Soudan.  There  is  more  closed  territory  in  Nigeria  today  than  there  was 
ten  years  ago,  and  who  knows  if  it  may  be  God’s  way  of  opening  this 
whole  land  to  the  gospel  before  the  Lord  comes?’’ 

“While  vast  continents  are  shrouded  in  almost  utter  darkness  and 
hundreds  of  millions  suffer  the  horrors  of  Heathenism  or  of  Islam, 
the  burden  of  proof  lies  upon  you  to  shore  that  the  circumstances  in 
which  God  has  placed  you,  were  meant  by  Him  to  keep  you  out  of 
the  Foreign  Mission  Field.” 

— Ion  Keith  Falconer. 
CENTRAL  AFRICA 

This  stretch  of  inland  Africa  has  well  been  named  “The  Beloved 
Strip.”  Beloved  because  of  the  precious  dust  that  lies  in  it.  We 
with  others  have  given  our  best  to  Africa  that  she  may  see  the  truth 
of  our  Lord’s  word  “Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and 
die  it  abideth  alone.”  Freely  and  lavishly  has  life  been  laid  down 
that  Africa  may  live.  Those  graves-mute  appeals  of  love-giving  until 
love  dies,  gives  us  a  mortgage  on  Africa,  for  our  dead  lie  there  and 
we  must  continue  the  work  so  nobly  begun. 

Nothing  can  better  describe  conditions  that  have  been  met  and 
conquered  by  the  heroic  band  of  our  missionaries  than  to  quote  from 
a  recent  writer  some  of  the  experiences  of  F.  S.  Arnot  who  was  the 
pioneer  worker  in  Central  Africa. 

“He  stayed  at  chief  Liwanika’s  from  December,  1882,  to  May, 
1884,  and  a  very  trying  time  it  was.  The  Barotse  valley  was  thorough¬ 
ly  unhealthy  and  much  of  the  time  he  was  prostrated  with  fezwrs  or 
blinded  by  eye  troubles.  Supplies  were  very  short — indeed,  it  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  understand  what  he  did  live  on.  The  people  were  horribly 
cruel;  just  opposite  his  hut  the  boiling  pot  use  to  be  set  up  almost 
daily  for  trials  of  witchcraft.  Every  now  and  then  he  was  flooded 
out.  '  The  people  were  not  at  all  anxious  to  hear  the  gospel  and 
Liwanika  was  changeable,  nozv  friendly,  now  hostile.  The  diary, 
nevertheless,  is  full  of  hope  and  confidence  in  God.  ‘Though  the  in- 


5 


strument  and  means  be  the  feeblest  blessing  will  come.’  It  was  at 
this  period  that  Sir  Ralph  Williams  met  him  first  at  Victoria  Falls , 
and  wrote  the  following  tribute:  ‘Mr.  Arnot,  the  missionary ,  teas  a 
remarkable  man,  I  met  him  some  weeks  later  and  had  many  talks  with 
him.  He  was  the  simplest  and  most  earnest  of  men.  He  lived  a  life 
of  great  hardship  under  the  care  of  the  King  of  the  Barotse  and 
taught  his  children.  I  remember  his  telling  me  with  some  pride  that 
his  pupils  mastered  the  alphabet.  I  have  seen  many  missionaries 
under  varied  circumstances,  but  such  an  absolutely  forlorn  man,  exist¬ 
ing  on  from  day  to  day,  almost  homeless,  without  any  of  the  ap¬ 
pliances  which  make  life  bearable,  I  have  never  seen.  He  was  im¬ 
bued  with  one  desire,  and  that  was  to  do  God  sendee,  and  I  have 
honored  the  recollections  of  him  ever  since  as  being  as  near  his  Master 
as  anyone  I  ever  saw.” 

There  are  now  19  stations  manned  by  80  workers  in  this  beloved 
strip  of  Central  Africa.  Dr.  Fischer  writing  recently  in  the  “Witness” 
very  clearly  presents  the  needs  of  this  great  mission  field. 

“In  a  stretch  of  country  a  thousand  miles  long  by  five  hundred 
broad,  six  different  languages  have  been  reduced  to  writing  and  the 
gospel  preached  and  to-day  most  of  those  won  for  Christ  are  saved 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  native  Christian.  But  these  “lambs” 
need  feeding  and  tending,  and  how  best  to  meet  this  need  is  the 
problem  of  our  mission  work  to-day. 

SPIRITUALLY— 

The  Christian  can  never  be  strong  and  evangelize  these  countries 
until  the  whole  Word  of  God  is  translated  into  these  six  languages — 
Umbundu,  Chokwe,  Lwena,  Lunda,  Luba  and  Vemba ;  and  our  sta¬ 
tions  need  more  workers  so  that  those  specially  fitted  may  be  set 
free  for  this  all-important  work.  Those  manifesting  special  gifts 
among  the  native  Christians  need  special  instruction;  and  to  meet  this 
need  a  Bible  School  is  a  necessity  in  each  of  these  six  languages. 

IN  TELLE CTUA LL Y— 

To  meet  the  growing  demand  of  Christians  in  isolated  districts 
out-schools  are  a  necessity  and  godly  married  Christian  natives  must 
be  trained  for  this  important  work  and  visited  constantly  in  their 
out-schools. 

The  printing  of  the  Scriptures  and  school  books  as  well  as  the 
editing  of  Bible  stories  and  monthly  magazines  for  the  Christians, 
demand  at  least  one  gifted  worker  in  each  of  the  above  mentioned 
languages. 

MEDICALLY— 

Isolated  Christians,  having  given  up  their  fetish  practices,  are  in 
a  dilemma  how  to  act  in  times  of  sickness,  and  their  medical  needs 
must  be  met. 

The  establishment  of  a  hospital,  with  two  doctors  and  two  nurses 
in  each  country — Bie,  Chokwe,  Lwena,  Lunda,  Luba  and  Vemba — 
would  meet  this  need,  for  it  would  then  be  possible  for  native  Chris¬ 
tians  to  be  trained  as  nurses  and  dispensers,  who  when  qualified  could 
be  sent  into  outlying  districts  to  open  dispensaries  which  would  be 
periodically  visited  bv  one. of  the  doctors. 

The  need  is  great  but  “with  God  nothing  is  impossible.” 

“ Christ  and  Christ  alone  reaches  the  centre  of  African  needs.” 


6 


To  pass  oArer  this  part  of  the  country  without  a  reference  to  the 
slave  trade  would  be  to  ignore  a  question  that  ought  to  stir  every 
Christian  heart  into  earnest  definite  prayer  that  this,  the  world’s  great 
open  sore  may  be  healed. 

One  of  our  missionaries  writes  as  follows : 

“An  hour  ago  I  could  not  have  trusted  myself  to  write  of  harrow¬ 
ing  sights.  A  monster  caravan,  eight  hundred  all  told,  drawing  near 
the  close  of  its  long  journey  from  the  far-off  Luba  country.  This 
travelling  mass  had  been  months  on  the  road  and  was  just  emerging 
from  the  ten  days’  hungry  march.  There  were  aged  men  and  women, 
poor,  shrivelled  forms  told  of  a  welcome  release  soon  for  them  from 
the  mortal  coil;  mothers  with  babes  on  their  backs  (one  just  born  that 
morning)  and  tall,  strong-looking  young  women  and  girls,  some  of 
them  with  fine  features,  carrying  heavy  loads.  One  of  these  had  fallen 
behind,  seemingly  quite  helpless  with  no  more  strength  left  for  her 
load,  I  just  appeared  on  the  scene  to  see  her  inhuman  owner  beat  her 
unmercifully  on  the  head  with  a  club.  Saddest  sight  of  all  were  the 
scores  of  little  children  crawling  along  naked,  many  of  them  not  above 
four  years  of  age.  No  wonder  they  flee  when  one  would  smile  at  them, 
for  after  all  it  is  the  white  man  who  buys  the  slaves.” 

OUR  WORKERS  THERE— 

Out  from  us  have  gone  into  that  needy  field  twenty  six  workers, 
five  of  whom  we  have  had  the  privilege  of  having  in  the  school. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gibbs  from  the  Austin  assembly  in  Chicago,  are  at 
work  in  Natal  at  Izingolweni  station.  Mr.  Gibbs  writes  recently  that 
at  one  of  their  conventions  held  a  month  ago  or  so  20  or  more  young 
people  confessed  Christ.  They  have  completed  a  new  hall  holding 
200  people.  They  have  six  out  stations  and  a  growing  aggressive 
work  is  being  carried  on. 

Mrs.  McLaren  now  settled  with  her  husband  at  Kasai  is  hard  at 
work  with  the  language  helping  in  the  work  of  that  station  in 
Chokweland. 

Mr.  McJannet  has  at  last  reached  his  station  also  in  Chokweland 
and  we  await  word  with  interest  from  him  as  to  his  progress  with  the 
language. 

Our  sister.  Miss  Edith  Howell  has  written  most  interesting  letters 
of  her  journey  to  her  station.  We  commend  her  to  the  prayers  of  the 
Lord’s  people. 

SPECIAL  MATTERS  FOR  PRAYER  FOR  OCTOBER— 

Pray  definitely  that  a  berth  may  be  secured  for  our  brother,  Mr. 
G.  A.  Rainey  permitting  him  to  go  to  his  work  in  China.  Matters 
entirely  out  of  his  control  caused  him  to  lose  the  August  boat  and 
difficulty  is  being  met  with  regarding  future  sailings. 

Pray  for  our  brother  and  sister  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowland  H.  C.  Hill 
who  hope  to  sail  D.  V.  October  20th  for  India. 

Pray  for  our  sister  Mrs.  A.  C.  Moore  who  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Moore  owing  to  ill  health  was  forced  by  doctor’s  orders  to  go  for 
some  months  to  the  Barbados.  They  are  keenly  anxious  to  get  back 
to  their  work  in  British  Guiana  as  they  are  so  badly  needed  owing 
to  the  absence  of  Mr.  Nichols. 

Pray  for  our  brother  Mr.  Lamb  recently  left  for  Venezuela,  that 
he  may  be  helped  in  the  language. 

Pray  for  our  brother  and  sister  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Wilson  who 


7 


are  exercised  about  the  erection  of  a  gospel  hall  where  they  are 
working.  The  one  they  have  been  using  has  been  condemned  and  a 
new  one  is  essential. 

Pray  for  our  sister  Miss  J.  Dorling  who  has  left  the  school  for 
England  en  route  for  India. 

THANKSGIVING— 

For  great  blessing  on  the  convention  held  in  Digne,  France,  where 
our  brother  Mr.  J.  C.  Wilson  is  working.  Ten  professed  conversion, 
three  of  them  the  children  of  brother  Wilson. 

For  blessing  on  the  work  in  Nassau.  Mr.  Thos.  Busby  working 
with  the  Bertrams  reports  a  number  of  conversions  there. 

For  definite  blessing  on  the  convention  for  Christians,  held  by  our 
brother  Gibbs  in  Natal.  Over  twenty  young  people  accepted  Christ. 

“BE  STRONG!” 

“We  are  not  here  to  play,  to  dream  to  drift! 

W  e  have  hard  work  to  do  and  loads  to  lift; 

Shun  not  the  struggle — face  it,  ’tis  God’s  gift.” 

“BE  STRONG!” 

“Say  not  the  days  are  evil, — who’s  to  blame? 

And  fold  the  hands  and  acquiesce — O!  Shame; 

Stand  up,  speak  out,  and  bravely,  in  God’s  name !” 

“BE  STRONG!” 

“It  matters  not  how  deep  intrenched  the  wrong, 

How  hard  the  battle  goes, — the  day  how  long, — 

Faint  not!  Fight  on!  To-morrow  comes  the  song!” 

— Selected. 


This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith. 
( 1  John  5 :4.) 


RICHARD  HILL, 

393  Third  Street, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


